Ball-and-socket joint for control transmissions



u y 22,1941. M. J. MEYER 2, 4, 9. I sOckE JOINT FOR CONTROL TRANSMISSIONS BALL-mm Filed May 25, 1939 i atenteci July 22,1947 a i Bilhli AND -SOGKEET JOINT FOR CONTROLi TKANSM'ISSIQNSi;

Michel- Jlisfillh -Mfil ma S ,Ifinea;..ives c l in, the Attorney General of "the United-States ApplioatiomMay 25;:1939;- SEfiEliN-2:2,'75,'f747i IIIFIEIXGGEMQY 3.0;, 193,8; Sections. 2., mm, Piiblic Law'esm:au usts,:1a4e: Batentexpii-es 30,, 1958;

4: Glaiinsrx (Cl. 2;8:7;L-87:)af

The-present inventionhas for object a system oft-spaoing apart and gripping is said jawswhich of ball-and socket joints serving to connect-con can be obtained either automatically, orb-y hand;

trol members andgenerally-speakingfor all 'ap and the movement of 'saidejaws takes place ina plications; plane at' right angles: to the longitudinal axis The various ball-and-socket' joint system-s 5:1of thrust, or axis of therods -so asto laterally commonly" used as -method of articulationyyparencirel'e as largely as possible,- theperiphery of ticularlyin the controls of auxiliary movements" thespherical-partpontrarily tothe actual method present, intheir applications; inconveniencesof procedure, in which these spherical joints'ar-e which are obviated by theball-andj-socket jointcarried at the end; th-atis to say in the axis of system-forming the subject matter'of the present" wither-rods patent m the accompanyi-ng drawing; the-representa-- For instance, in the common case which con tion of wh-ich is'igiven merely byway of indicasists in connecting two rods transmitting a longi tiong -it -will benotedth-at the gripping methodgof tudinal stress to members moving in different" said jaws consists in causing said jaws'to move planes; it is established:- thattheactual, method lk circularly, by hand, by means of a simpleknob consisting inconnecting saidrods by a-transverse" and .the-action of aspi ing.

fingerhaving-a sphericalpart,generatestorsional"- In thissdrawingz-i V and bending stresses abnormally strainingrthe Figr i -illustrates: an; externalzyiew f. the. ball parts concerned and creating lateral" reactions; and iSOOkGtdOiIlti having circular jaws. prejudicial to satisfactoryoperation. Moreover; 2a: Fig 2; lsa-longitudinal:sectionoi said-1 pincers. these arrangements cannotallow said ball-andshowing .theamethodzxforc coupling both: part socket joints totfunction:accordingto an angle united sufliciently important for satisfying the require- Eig fi isaahommementaryyiew ofuth two first ments of many cases. ones? showing: an ext rnals arH-'V .e,W andl halfs Besides this, said ball-and-socket'ijoints are '28 section,

not always provided with-theindispensable ari ii iSQQQCI'OSfi' section qnan enlargediscaie,

rangement for taking up the play, and which show n the -defiailiof a, coupling-member called;v

must be,in these circumstances, easily adjust-* circula jaw, inits-clqsin eandlocking position;

able; also, they donot present the advantage of Fig,-,5isaisimilar view butshowingrsaid membeingpositively unable-of getting 'out of order, beiwin-Wopeni position-duringuncouplingz Moreover, they lack; aboveall' things, thedndis .Eig. d islalongitudinalsection of-a: fixed jaw.

pensable advantage of being rapidly and easgiiy: Fig. 7 isa planview-oisaid-jawr coupled and uncoupled involvingcomplete acces 8 is longitudinal sectionhof a movable jaw,

The present"ball-and-socket joint-"system; nirfigoflisla plan view.

edies theseinconveniences -and has other ThebaIII-and-sOcRet jointihavingrcircularjaws vantages: it ensures-arational transmissipn-" fi is composed of the two main parts to be cone thestress byeliminating-thelateral couplihgas' nectedt. on .the one hand,- the finger I having a well as the prejudicial reactions resulting therespherical end 2 "rigid with its control member, from, it directly transmits thestress through the 40 in this case, the rod 3; on the other hand: the axis of the rods carrying the ball-and-socket part which receives the spherical end of said finjoint. The spherical part of the ball-and-socket ger and which is constituted by a sheath 4 also joint located at the end of said rods, constitutes rigid with the control member 5. Within said the point about which said rods can pivot in all sheath is secured a jaw 6 having a spherical cavpossible planes up to a maximum amplitude enity,f0rming one with the same.

circling half the spherical part. Said system Opposite this fixed jaw is arranged a circular allows of obtaining rectilinear controls, as the movable jaw I having a spherical cavity, capable axes of the elements ball and rods can be in of moving circularly under the action of an outer alignment with each other; likewise, it allows milled ring 8, to which it is connected by a pin 9 of obtaining lateral control, so-called right-angupassing through the sheath through a circular lar control, under a very large leading angle. opening III; a torsional spring H placed within Said ball-and-socket joint system resides in said sheath restores the circular jaw 1 to its the principle of gripping the male spherical part locking position. y means of suitable jaws belonging to the The operation which consists in connecting responding female part, There are two methods the said control elements is very simple, as Well 3 as that consisting in uncoupling them. In these circular jaws it suffices to rotate the movable ring 8 in the direction of the arrow A to bring the movable jaw 7 from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the spaced position shown in Fig. 5, the spherical part 2 of the latter, once placed in its recess, it suffices to abandon the ring 8, which, under the action of the spring ll, Fig. 2, is restored in the reverse direction to that of the arrow, that is to say, to the position shown in Fig. 4; at this moment, the finger is trapped between both jaws 6 and 1 and cannot possibly become released therefrom.

4 in which the engagement of the spherical member in the jaw and its disengagement take place in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the jaw.

3. A ball and socket joint as claimed in claim 1, in which the spherical segments of the two parts of the jaw of the female element are out of 'center relatively to the spherical member of the For ensuring perfect adhesion of the spherical walls of the circular jaws on the spherical part, and consequently for eliminating play, the central recess of the spherical part 22 is slightly out of center relatively to the external diameter of 7 said jaws; it will be seen that, under the action of the spring II, the latter grip said spherical part with a normal pressure which automatically ensures the taking up of the play, as well as a safety locking of said spherical part.

It is to be noted that all these improvements are thus united in a simple member of relatively reduced cumbersomeness, which constitutes, among others, one of its main characteristic features.

This system can be applied to all controls by means of levers, links, coupling rods, segment controls, remote controls, and, in short, to all transmission controls which are particularly included in: machine-tools, motor cars, aviation, electric apparatus.

I claim:

1. A ball and socket joint fora pair of control rods one of which is manually operated, including a male element in the formof aspherical member at the end of the manually operated control rod, a female element for receiving the male element fixed at the end of the other control rod and including fixed and movablejaw' members, each of said jaw members havingthe shape of a spherical segment having a surface less' 2. A ball and socket joint as claimed in claim 1, 7

male element for constituting an automatic taking up of the play.

4. A ball and socket joint comprising two con- ,trol rods one of which is manually operated, a

male element in the form of a spherical member arranged at the end of the manually operated control rod, a female element arranged on the other rod and constituted by a sheath having at its end a groove, a jawcomposed of two parts arranged in the sheath one of which is rigid with the sheath having a cavity in the form of a spherical segment bearing against a portion of the spherical member of the male element, a second part having a cavity in the form of a spherical segment bearing against another portion of the spherical member of the male element displaceable in said sheath and adapted to be brought in contact with the fixed part, a milled ring surrounding the sheath rendered rigid with the moving part of the jaw by a pin passing through the sheath and engaging in a slot formed therein, a

spring secured on one side to the sheath and on the other side to the moving part of the jaw opposite the fixed part for holding the spherical member of the male element, an action by hand on the milled ring acting against the normal action of the spring bringing the moving jaw in contact with the fixed jaw thus leaving between them a space corresponding to the groove of the sheath for permitting the engagement of the spherical member in the jaw and also its disengage'ment. i a

I MICHEL JOSEPH MEYER.

' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number. Name Date 81,346 Crandell Aug. 25, 1868 757,769 Reece Apr. 19, 1904 2,115,629 Gurley Apr. 26, 1938 1,086,515 Craft ...4 Feb. 10, 1914 1,759,109 Graves May 20, 1930 684,435 Johnston Oct. 15,1901 993,757 Chrysler May 30, 1911 763,380 Eble et a1 June 28, 1904 1,215,805 Hopkins Feb. 13, 1917 2,029,532 Karcher Feb. 4, 1936 

